Latvia

In January 2012 the penetration rate of fixed broadband is 20.4% of the population below the EU average of 27.7%. Latvia has 57.5% of fixed lines providing speeds of 10 Mbps and above. With regards to high and ultra fast speeds, 15.6% of lines provide speeds between 30Mbps and below 100Mbps and 15.4% of fixed lines provide speeds equal or above 100 Mbps. The percentage of lines above 30Mbps is 31%, 22.5 p.p. above the EU average rate of 8.5% of lines in this speed range. Mobile broadband penetration is 29.7%. In 2011 66% of the population use the internet regularly below the EU average of 68%. With regards to disadvantaged people, the rate was 49%. 27% of citizens have never used the internet. Take-up of eCommerce is low, with 20% of the population buying online. 13.8% of businesses purchased online, and 9% sold online, while 13.7 and 8.8% of SMEs did so respectively. The percentage of citizens using online public services in Latvia has increased slightly in 2011 to 41%. The percentage of eGovernment users among the enterprises has seen the third largest increase in 2011 ( 15 pp) ending a 89%, above the EU27 average (84%). In 2009, business expenditure on R&D (BERD) in the ICT sectors amounted to 5.5 mio €. The share of ICT in total BERD is around EU average, at just below 20%.